Search form

Should we re-think positive thinking?

Everyone knows that to be successful and happy, we should say favorable things to ourselves.

Everyone knows that to be successful and happy, we should say favorable things to ourselves. Self-help books, magazines, and TV shows encourage "positive self-statements," such as "I can do it!," "I'm good at this," and "I'm a lovable person." Advocates of positive self-statements range from Émile Coué, an early 20th century French psychologist and pharmacist, who recommended repeating the phrase, "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better," to Oprah Winfrey, whose O magazine advised readers to:

Look at yourself in a full-length mirror...Now compliment yourself. Yes, you can do it. Repeat these empowering words aloud every morning and every night...

But are positive self-statements actually beneficial? In an experiment that will be published in Psychological Science, Elaine Perunovic, John Lee, and I tested this idea. We recruited people to participate in our study based on their scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, which has 10 questionnaire items such as, "I feel that I have a number of good qualities." People who scored in the lowest third of the distribution of Rosenberg scores (low self-esteem) and in the highest third of the distribution (high self-esteem) were invited to come to our laboratory, where we randomly assigned them to one of two conditions. We asked participants to either repeat to themselves the statement, "I'm a lovable person," (positive self-statement condition) for four minutes, or to write down their thoughts and feelings (control condition) for four minutes. Our results indicated that people who were low in self-esteem felt worse about themselves after repeating the positive self-statement. Their moods and their "state self-esteem"--their feelings about themselves at that moment--were more negative than those of lows in the control condition. In contrast, people with high self-esteem did feel better after repeating the positive self-statement, but to only a limited degree.

We have obtained similar results in other studies. It appears that positive self-statements, despite their widespread endorsement, may backfire for the very people who need them the most.

Why might engaging in positive self-statements be harmful for people low in self-esteem? I'll address that question in a future post. In the meantime, some of us might be better off following the example of my philosopher friend Paul Thagard, who quipped, "Every day, in every way, I've stopped talking to myself."

The research, in and of itself, seems interesting. But, from a real life perspective, i think it may miss some points.

For people with low self-regard, the kinds of self-statements that could better serve them, I believe, need to be a) highly specific ("I'm a good person" is not), b) need to be accurate, and c) need to address the other thinking errors people with very low self-regard engage in. (Sorry about ending with a preposition). These thinking errors include, but are not limited to, taking responsibility for problems over which they could have had no impact; taking a mistake and seeing this as "proof" of their no-goodness; making cause-and-effect conclusions that are erroneous; selective memory (remenbering mistakes, and not noticing successes).

So, my ramblings are my attempt to address the issue of finding the resarch interesting, but, in a way, seeing it somewhat as a red herring.

i strongly agree, how can someone fool himself into feeling good while there are real factors that he should deal with in order to feel good about himself, i thank you for providing us with the results of this research

It is a struggle to make oneself who has low self-esteem to make himself feel good by saying the likes of, "If I believe I can do it, I will get what I want". That would be kind of ironic since he did not get what he wants in the first place". So how can positive thinking work in such a situation?

I have a friend who has been going for many job interviews with food manufacturing MNCs but failed to land any job thus far. When I told her she needs to think positively on the many little successes she gained from the interviews (such as writing a good CV, learn how MNCs drill their candidates and getting the interview in the first place), she replied, "Yes, but how many more failed interviews? Time waits for no man! And why I did not get the job is because I am not good enough for them". Indeed, she is already depressed. And asking her to think positive is just too much right now, isn't it?

I agree very much with Steven above. The control condition did not seem to be a control at all. Writing about how you are feeling is in itself a theraputic process. Additionally, positive self talk must be accurate and specific and must occur over a period of time that allows the positive thoughts to replace the negative self talk that has prevailed in the conversation taking place inside the self.

Finally, four minutes of repeating the same though is probably not possible for someone who is not used to such prolonged focus on one phrase. Especially if one is a bit depressed (not meant in the clinical sense). The minds of the less positive participants could easily wander and therefore the condition would not actually be met. One last thought... I would have liked to see how the eliminated participants faired. It seems logical that those in the middle would see the largest effect from a short intense burst of positivity.

I think this article makes one very important point: Affirmations hurt the people that need them the most. Also, to really split hairs, affirmations ARE vague, overly optimistic statements. This is because they're usually picked out of a book put out by a well-meaning but otherwise useless self-help author. The reader, not knowing any better tries to use them because someone in a supposed position of authority says they should work. Modifying self-talk, on the other hand, is something to be done under the guidance of a professional who actually knows what they're doing. These are two completely different things.

So, the point is that affirmations specifically are not useful, and the study indicates (although I would have liked to have seen a bigger sample and I do agree that a different control should be tried) that it might be most harmful to those with low self-esteem. Personally, I think that it doesn't matter at all what effect it has on the middle third. The high self-esteem third will never need the affirmations, and while the middle third might see some benefit, the bottom third are the ones who are going be most desperate for SOME kind of help. These are the people who are most likely to latch onto affirmations like a drowning sailor in a storm. If affirmations make their problems worse, then regardless of if affirmations work for the segment of the population that is ok or not, it should be outed as something that is not good.

Furthermore, anything that gets people to actually THINK about the validity of something is never a red herring because, quite frankly, there's a lot in psychology that's ineffective but continues simply because someone with letters after their name learned it from someone else with letters after their name. That kind of intellectual arrogance is ridiculous, so I applaud the authors for bringing affirmations into question.

As we know, many so called "research" are only papers proving what people want to prove. Psychology is one of them. They always grasp all informations useful to them, publish them in a decent and formal way, but mention not all the opposite evidence. That's why we see different psychology schools are so much self-contradicting. This very discipline has never sort outed any general theories, or universal principles just like demand and supply theory in economies, or gravity in physics.

As with many things in life, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Of course it's true that a single affirmation would not be considered positive for everyone. Nor was it ever intended to. It is important that affirmations are appropriate for the individual, and their current state of mind.

Many of the self-help books I have read actually do make this point very clearly at the beginning. I don't think the authors can be blamed if individuals don't read the directions properly!

As with most medicines if we don't read the directions, choose the wrong medicine, and/or the wrong dosage, we are bound to go awry. And in doing so, we might just learn something valuable: Next time - read the directions!

Affirmations, as a therapeutic tool, have benefitted many people, and will continue to do so. But of course the technique needs to be applied appropriately and judiciously, with care and attention.

I am a person with very low self esteem, the reason is that I've suffered acne for years and I have a lot of scars.
Whenever I am told that I am attractive, I'd feel down. Whenever a girl gives me a flirtatious glare, I'd feel down afterward.
I guess it's because I'd like to be seen accurately rather than 'inaccurately positive'.
As for the long run,
I have read many entrepreneurial self enhancement books and I believe these books have helped me become a happier, more ambitious person.

The title of this page is provocative to put it mildly. Where I live -in a Northern European Country - depression is becoming a major issue.

What makes ones life go wrong? In my experience negative poundering after a couple of losses in life can lead to more negative think which leads to more ... etc and in extremes cases the depression becomes a chronic one, not very easy to break free from.

Affirmations is turning on the light and makes life little by little a little more worthwhile.

I started meditating in the last few years and it really lets you see the things you tell yourself, chronic thoughts, worries, restlessness, longing, fear about what MIGHT happen etc. Although, obviously when you sit down and stop avoiding the things that disturb you the most, your habitual thoughts in these quiet settings become illuminated!:- worries, constant planning, regret over the past, fear about the future etc.

I had tried affirmations for a long time and read some helpful books and really tried to BELIEVE! Anyway they didn't work so well and deep down I just couldn't get myself there...and here's why

I was sugar coating the affirmations on top of chronic self-criticism, high expectations, low self value, fear of failure, fear of exposure, worry that I wouldn't be good enough blah blah (humour does incidentally help!)

anyway it was only through becoming self aware and seeing the thoughts that sneak in especially when I was stressed or down, or perhaps when I'd had a difficult day. Thoughts like 'what did you expect?, why did you think you could do this?, you're not good enough etc.

the short answer is until you realise how much you're criticising yourself and worrying or whatever your difficulties are and know that's what you're doing; Until you face your issues like a peaceful warrior you're not really going to believe the affirmations because you haven't identified the underlying problem and named it and held it close and accepted it. paradoxically when you do this, often the feeling dissipates.

I also find metta (loving kindness) meditation/words helpful here. Cultivating good will for yourself because you're sad, upset, disappointed.